Page 63 of When You're Home
“I don’t think I can go anywhere right now,” she moaned, rejecting his invitation and curling her knees up under her body instead.
“Stop being dramatic. That’s my job around here,” he reminded her. “We’re just going to the sunroom. I’ll get you water and some painkillers. You probably need a little hair of the dog, too, before the interrogation begins.”
“Ugh,” she moaned in protest, but she let him pull her to her feet.
Tori settled into the couch in the sunroom while Jake took his position behind the Wheelers’ bar. She watched as he worked, mixing and stirring with the ease of an experienced bartender. Jake was the same age as Tori and Rhett, yet right now he looked so much older than she felt at the moment. He had been through a lot in life, especially in high school, and then again with the death of his dad and the fallout with his brothers.
Tori sometimes forgot how sweet and decent Jake really was underneath his bad boy, no-shits-given exterior. He looked over at her then and caught her watching him. His eyes held hers for a moment, sizing her up. They had been friends for more than fifteen years. Their friendship ebbed and flowed, always seeming to cool off a bit whenever Rhett was home. Sometimes she missed the closeness she and Jake had shared in high school after he transferred from Arch to Hampton High, but she had accepted long ago that his greatest loyalty was and always would be to Rhett.
Jake poured two drinks from a mixer with a flourish. “So here’s the deal, Thompson. First, we drink. Then, you talk.”
Tori reached for her drink and accepted his terms. She was in no position to argue, and she felt like she needed someone to talk to right now. Normally that someone would be Rhett, but seeing as he was the person she had just emotionally ravaged a few hours ago… She took a slow sip and relished the taste of the tart tomato juice and tabasco burning her throat.
“You know, I think I like your spicy Bloody Marys better than his.”
Jake made an exasperated noise as he sat down. “Don’t try to butter me up, baby. You’re still in the hot seat.” He settled into the couch next to her and took a sip from his own glass before continuing. “Also, you don’t need to tell me what I already know. Everyone seems to like my spicy Bloody Marys just fine when Wheeler’s not around.”
“Oh, Jake. Don’t be so naive,” she teased. “Rhett could literally serve tomato juice straight from the can, and everyone at Clinton's would declare it was the best thing they’d ever put in their mouth.”
“You’re not wrong. He’s golden, Tori. We know it. He knows it. This whole goddamn town knows it.” His words were soft but candid. “I’ve played second fiddle to him for most of my life, and I don’t even care. He’s the best friend I’ve ever had. He’s just so steady.”
Tori sucked in a sharp breath. She didn’t need Jake to regale her with all of Rhett’s best qualities. She knew there was no one better.
“You didn’t make mine too strong, did you?” she asked, wrinkling up her nose. She realized she had drank more in the past three days than she had in the past three years combined. She had enough to deal with right now without letting herself start to freak out about her alcohol consumption before next month’s scans.
“Not yours, baby. Just a splash for you,” Jake reassured her, giving her knee a quick squeeze.
She couldn’t remember exactly when he started calling her “baby,” but he’d been doing it since high school. He had started using the nickname just to make Rhett mad. Now, years later, it really did feel like a term of endearment. She was grateful Jake cared enough to hang back and be with her today.
She took another sip of her drink, then reached for the water bottle and painkillers he had brought out to the sunroom. She swallowed two pills before turning to face him. He was looking at her with a mix of pity and curiosity.
“So?” he asked.
“So,” she responded, still negotiating with herself about how much she was going to tell him.
“Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be. I think you should just tell me everything.”
Tori pursed her lips and tried not to roll her eyes. Jake was Rhett’s best friend—she knew everything she said could and would be held against her eventually.
“You don’t have to worry,” he addressed her concern before she even vocalized it. “I’m in the dog house big time. Maybe even more than you. He’s pissed at me for about ten different reasons right now. And I’m so mad at him for how he handled things yesterday. I doubt we’re even going on our trip this week…” Jake trailed off, the sadness evident in his voice. “Your secrets are safe with me.”
“Fine,” she relented.
“Yeah?” He sounded cautiously optimistic.
“Yeah. You go first, though. Tell me what you already know.”
Jake cocked one eyebrow in her direction before he began to speak.
“I know that you and Rhett have been playing some twisted game for a while now. You were both obsessed with each other in high school. You dumped him before college. You broke his heart, and he was a mess. You weren’t around for a lot of the mess, Tori. It wasn’t good… Over the last few years, he hasn’t been so mopey. He hasn’t seemed so broken. He started dating Chandler. He also started coming home more often and picking up weekend shifts at Clinton's. That part never made sense to me. You two seem to be closer than ever now, or at least you did before this weekend, yet he’s still with her?”
She felt the tears well up in her eyes as she listened to his shrewd assessment of her love life. But Jake wasn’t done.
“He won’t tell me anything about your relationship now. And I know you have some sort of relationship, and that there are things to tell. We used to talk all the time, but now he’s so goddamn protective of you that he shuts me down at every pass. I’m barely allowed to mention your name in conversation,” Jake confessed. He glanced at Tori, and she saw the pain behind his eyes. A pang of guilt cut through her as she realized how her arrangement with Rhett had affected his friendship with Jake.
“But I’ve watched you two together over the last few years,” he continued. “The looks across Clinton's. The touches when you think no one is paying attention. The way he acts like a giddy, horny high schooler whenever he comes back to town. I know Everhett loves you. He has loved you since the summer before eighth grade. I don’t think he ever stopped loving you, and I don’t think he ever will.”
Tori blinked as the tears fell. Then she blinked again, keeping her eyes closed this time.
